Accidentally In Love
by spacegypsy1
Summary: One shot, D/V. As time passes, Daniel and Vala become closer.


Accidentally in love

Spacegypsy1

One shot, D/V. As time passes, Daniel and Vala become closer.

**P2Q-627 – A week before the fated Odyssey trip.**

With practiced stealth Cam opened the tent flap. "Carter?" He whispered.

Sam stirred, rolling over in her sleeping bag. Cam looked behind him at the figure of Teal'c in the moonlight before entering. He crouched down behind Carter and shook her shoulder gently. "Carter?"

"Hmm?"

"Wake up. You're gonna want to see this."

Rolling over Sam's eyes popped open. She checked the time seeing it was a good hour before her watch. She was immediately on guard. "What's wrong?"

"Nothin' But you have to see this."

"What?" Sam fought her way out of her tangled sleeping bag, grabbing her vest as she stood.

"You don't need that. Come on." Cam placed a finger to his lips and cocked his head towards the door.

As they exited the tent, Teal'c turned, nodding. The full moons bathed the area in a blueish bright light, almost turning the pre-dawn into daylight.

There on the edge of their camp, snuggled up tight were Vala and Daniel. Sam blinked in confusion then looked from Cam to Teal'c. "How'd that happen? They were snipping at each other when I went to bed after dinner."

"Indeed, ColonelCarter. When I took the watch from ValaMalDoran, DanielJackson stormed off and laid out in his sleeping bag alone on the hillside."

Cam grinned. "When I took watch from Teal'c, Vala was still awake. She complained about the heat, retrieved her sleepin' bag from your tent and placed it on the hillside not two feet from his. He grumbled bitchin' at her, which of course she relished in responding too. I had to listen to them for an hour before he just rolled over and went to sleep."

Sam nearly laughed, "Aw boy, he's going to be spitting mad when he wakes up and realizes she closed that gap."

"Hold up there a minute. That's just it, she didn't."

Sam raised a brow at Cam's remark. "He did!?"

"I was reconin' the area surroundin' the camp. I heard somethin' and moved closer. He'd rolled to his back, awake, and just stared at the sky for the longest time." Cam grinned at Teal'c, then Sam. "I went on about my rounds. When I got back to a point where I could see them again, he'd rolled towards her to his side. Now here's the weird part. He did the strangest thing. First, he was lookin' around, I guess to see where I was. Me bein' clear across the camp outta sight. The big guy was doin' the Kel'no'reem thing against a tree. So Jackson, reaches across and pulls her sleepin' bag up over her shoulders, which in itself was normal, it was gettin' chilly. Then…as all those wacky gods we've all run into as my witnesses, he scooted closer and leaned up on his elbow to watch her sleep."

Both of Sam's brows rose in total shock as her eyes grew rounder.

With a slight bow, Teal'c locked his hands behind his back and lowered his voice. "I had not been in Kel'no'reem as ColonelMitchell thought. I had been watching them surreptitiously. My intention was not to pry; however, I was as astounded as the colonel and could not completely keep my gaze from them. When DanielJackson heard ColonelMitchell's return, he turned to his side away from ValaMalDoran. ColonelMitchell and myself moved to the fire and began to chat. I believe at this point DanielJackson fell asleep again."

"Yeah, and thirty minutes later, both me and Teal'c saw him turn, still asleep, and wrap his arm around her, tuggin' her back up against him. I nearly jumped out of my skin! It was like someone shot me right in the spine. I stood up, but Teal'c yanked me back down. Daniel mumbled somethin'; thankfully I didn't hear it. But when I looked at the Jaffa here, he had a sort of screwy kinda smile on his face. I knew he heard it, but he wouldn't tell me."

"He's like that. Teal'c loves a good secret." Sam grinned at Teal'c.

"It is not my place to repeat overhead conversations."

Turning back to Cam, Sam whispered. "Right. So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm thinkin' I could chunk some small rocks at him, wake him up so he can save his dignity."

Yawning, Sam stretched. "Okay, just do it before my watch. I don't want to be the one to 'discover' them."

"I am fully awake ColonelCarter. I will continue the watch until the sun rises. I will also propel small projectiles at DanielJackson from afar for you, ColonelMitchell."

**Twenty-one days into the Odyssey's entrapment in the time dilation field**

When Daniel exited the room housing the Asgard data base he didn't see Teal'c round the corner. His eyes were locked on the retreating six of Vala who skated by, twirling, swaying her hips to music he couldn't hear, in cut off BDU 'shorts' much too tight across her bum.

For a moment he stared at the spot where she'd disappeared around the corner. "Damn." Daniel removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, then replaced them, shaking his head and grinning. "She's just so…so…"

"So what, DanielJackson?"

Daniel flinched in surprise, turned a light shade of pink and began to sputter, "Ah, hey Teal'c, er, ah, so…good at roller skating."

**P3K-546 – ****First mission following the defeat of the Ori **

Exiting the Stargate, Vala and Daniel were playfully bickering.

"The only treasures we will find will be the artifact variety."

"Yes, but as I've pointed out on numerous occasions, Daniel, they are often worth a ton of money."

"What do you need money for anyway?" He nudged her shoulder with his as they followed the others down a well worn path.

She tried to trip him up with a foot at his ankle; however, he stepped over the miss-aimed foot, then tripped over his own boots, stumbling. They both laughed, and the other three turned to look, before shaking their heads collectively.

"I'm thinking of buying a house. I'd like to live off base. The IOA are still quite grateful right now so I want to take advantage of that."

Daniel turned to look at her thoughtfully. "A house? Really?"

Smiling widely, she nodded emphatically, sending tendrils of hair loose from her ponytail. When she stopped to redo her hair, Daniel swatted her hands away, pulled the band off, scooped up the mass for dark hair and banded it back neatly.

"There. Much better." They started off again, without trying to catching up with the others.

"You know the Air Force will help you buy a house? Right?" He was staring down at her as they sauntered along.

"Are you two comin' anytime soon?" Mitchell yelled back from the rise of a hill.

"Be there in a minute, Mitchell." Daniel continued, "I mean, they'll loan you the money."

Vala sighed deeply. "I don't want an Air Force loan. I'd be indebted, I want my own money and we all know they don't pay me enough to afford a house."

"Then I'll loan it to you."

Vala came to a sudden halt. "I realize you've been here a lot longer than me, but I don't think you have that much saved up! Not that I want a mansion, mind you. Just a cute little cottage in town, or a nice chalet in the mountains. Small but nice. And cheap. Nothing fancy. Well, actually, fancy would be wonderful! You know, sunken tub and swimming pool and hot tub, and gourmet kitchen, and one of those raining showers."

Daniel laughed, giving her a tug on the sleeve to get her moving again. "My grandfather Nick left some money behind for me. I could loan you enough to buy something. Small but nice. No fancy, no swimming pool, maybe a hot tub and a mini-gourmet kitchen?"

"That's your money, darling. Why haven't you bought a house?"

"I have an apartment. I've had a house…too much upkeep when I'm gone all the time. I don't need the money right now. You could just have automatic bank draft to pay me back as you can afford to."

"Why don't we just buy a house together?"

It was Daniel's turn to stop suddenly. "What?"

"We could share the upkeep. I'd love to learn to cut grass, it looks like fun! I'd want one of those riding lawnmowers, though."

"You're nuts."

"Right. Of course I was only kidding. I wouldn't really want to live off base. Not yet. I don't think."

**The Day Vala returned from the Tok'ra world after Ba'al's extraction.**

Sam watched Vala across the mess hall wrapped up in some obviously nutty conversation with one of Reynolds team members. "You know Daniel, Vala's such an enigma. She still fascinates me."

"What are you talking about?" Daniel turned to follow the direction Sam was staring.

"She's such the consummate soldier, very smart and she has this strength about her on missions. She consistently amazes me when she's focused on some technical issue, and she's a genius at problem solving. Then…when she's here without any doom hanging over our heads, she's that giddy, happy girl."

"Giddy, happy, annoying girl." Daniel smiled and turned back to Sam.

"Annoying in a sweet, loving way."

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that."

"After all these years, I still love it when she gets her 'Tau'ri' words all screwed up. She makes me laugh."

"As you stated, she's a smart woman. I think she knows the words as well as you or I do. She does it to annoy…me in particular."

Sam buttered her toast. "I haven't noticed her annoying you much lately. She seems to have calmed down a bit. Don't you think?"

He looked back over his shoulder at the woman in question. Pursing his lips, eyes squinting behind his glasses, he nodded. "Actually, she has."

Watching him covertly from beneath her lasses, Sam pretended to be studying her food. "I wonder what went on while she was with the host."

The Colonel and the Archeologist lifted and locked their gaze with each other. Daniel furrowed his brows in thought before he broke the eye contact, looking back at Vala once again.

Vala felt his eyes on her and pivoted fully around in his direction. She grinned, waving her little girl wave. Daniel lifted a hand and waved back with a tender smile.

"I think she's ready to move off base." Daniel said returning to pick at his food. "Once she mentioned…maybe she and I could buy a house together."

"Well that's an idea. You should consider it. Being that you are teammates and friends, having a roommate to share the expenses would make sense."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

**SGC- Following Atlantis' return to Earth.**

Crystal champagne glasses clicked and 'congratulations' sang out from every corner of the room. Sam smiled happily, proudly. Commanding the George Hammond was a dream come true. And a tribute to the man who'd been like a second father.

She'd miss this bunch. A lot. But her life had changed drastically in the last few years and this command would give her the chances she needed to pursue other things without fear of discovery.

Still smiling broadly, Sam approached Daniel who stood off on his own staring out the window into her back yard.

Daniel saw her reflection in the glass and turned, hugging her and telling her how happy he was for her.

"I'm selling the house, Daniel."

"What? Why?"

"I don't need the worry. And, honestly, I won't be staying here whenever I come home."

"Oh. Right. Have any buyers yet?"

"I'm hoping you and Vala will buy it."

"What!?" He said it so loud that several people turned to stare. He moved closer to Sam, dropping his voice. "Me and Vala? Together?"

"You mentioned the possibility once. Besides, you two are inseparable. It's no secret; we all know you've been spending time away from base…overnight with Vala. What's changed?"

Ducking his head, Daniel sighed, unable to deny anything, he chose to ignore the insinuation they were sleeping together. "Nothing. Well, she hasn't actually mentioned moving off base again. But!" He held up a finger. "There have been many innuendos, references, etcetera. I'll talk to her. And if she doesn't want to move, I think I'll buy it anyway. If that's alright with you?"

Beaming, Sam nodded. "It's great! I'll give you a great deal on it."

"I'll pay the asking price."

"No. I'll be fair."

"And the market price isn't?"

"Well, you know what I mean. Okay, we'll split the difference; you can pay the closing costs."

"Deal." He put out a hand and she took it, and Daniel pulled her close for a hug. "God knows what I'm getting myself into with her."

"Oh, Daniel," Sam whispered in his ear. "I think you know exactly what you're getting yourself into."

~END


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